Hi all, I am new to Free Track, looking to build my first tracker. I would like to use USB power and it would be much more convenient to plug into the USB hub on my desk that plugs into my PC rather than the wall power outlet.

I read through a couple of the sticky posts and there is mention of possible motherboard damage using this option.

Has anyone successfully done this? How did you protect your motherboard from damage? What components are you using? Is there a schematic for this?

Being on the safe side I would advise against plugging led assembly to the wall socket via USB adapter.
Those things are known to fail once in a while and unless you want to enhance gameplay by adding surprise shock therapy its better to stick to simple AA batteries.

The fact you can put batteries with a switch on a cap and get rid of any wires tangling your hands is another advantage of such solution.

The protection is already in the resistors, so I find the (hard to find) PTC fuse rather redundant. Besides that many modern computers will lock the USB port down if they detect a too high voltage or current. A proper USB wall socket won't be any problem either.